St. Joseph, Ill. - The Illinois Central College softball team suffered another close loss in Region 24 action, falling to (RV) Danville 3-2 in nine innings on Saturday afternoon at St. Joe-Ogden Softball Field.  Pitcher Hanna Evans was a force in the circle and Nivarra Oredina provided a two-run homer in the first inning, but in the end it was DACC who came up with a big hit in the bottom of the ninth inning to take the victory. 

"Once again we were right there," coach Heather Doty said.  "but just couldn't get the big play that we needed.  Hanna gave us a great effort on the mound so that's something to build on.  We'll keep plugging away." 

The Cougars dropped the nightcap 18-8, putting their record at 20-20 overall and 13-13 in Region play while Danville moved to 29-13 overall and 18-8 in Region 24.  ICC will have their last regular season games on Monday, April 29 at Lewis & Clark at 3pm & 5pm in Godfrey and then begin Region 24 Tourney play on either Tuesday or Wednesday with opponent, location, and time TBA.

Game 1:  Danville 3, Illinois Central 2
The Cougars started off with a bang on Oredina's two-run homer (scoring Gracie White who had singled) for a 2-0 lead.

Danville answered with two runs using a walk, double, single and sacrifice fly to knot the score at 2-2.  From there, it was a pitcher's duel as Evans and the ICC defense kept DACC off-balance.

The Jaguar pitcher had the same effect on the Cougar hitters, limiting ICC to just three hits the rest of the way.  Marlee Brown had a two-out single in the top of the fourth but was left on base and Evans singled to lead off the top of the fifth but DACC escaped both innings run-free.  

Evans dodged trouble in the bottom of the fifth when DACC drew two walks and then singled with two outs, but a line out to center field got the Cougars out of the inning unscathed.  

The Cougars had a runner (Reagan Linder) placed on second to start the top of the eighth. Madi Kessler laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Linder over to third with one out.  Kylie Hyde came through with a bunt single to put runners on the corners but DACC induced two fly outs to get out of the inning and keep the score at 2-all. 

The Cougars had another chance to score in the ninth as Marley Williamson started on second and moved to third on a Shylar Boze sacrifice.  Brown walked to again plant runners on the corners but the Cougars flied out to end of the inning.  Danville ended the game in the bottom of the ninth when the lead-off batter singled to left field to score the runner from second base.

COUGAR HITTING
Nivarra Oredina | 1-4, home run, 2 RBI
Gracie White | 1-4
Marlee Brown | 1-2
Hanna Evans | 1-2
Kylie Hyde | 1-2

COUGAR PITCHING
Hanna Evans | 8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 6 K

Game 2: Danville 18, Illinois Central 8
The Cougars had nine hits in the nightcap, including two home runs by Marlee Brown but it was not enough to keep pace with the Jaguars. Brown had a solo shot in the top of the second, but DACC used five singles, a double, and an error to put up seven runs for a 7-1 lead.    

The Cougars had a strong offensive output in the top of the third.  White and Williamson had lead-off singles, Oredina walked, and Boze had a two-RBI single.  Brown was then hit by a pitch, Kessler walked, and Hyde singled to pull ICC to within 7-5. 

Danville had a lead-off homer in the bottom of the third to forge ahead 8-5 but Brown answered with another solo shot to left field to bring ICC to within 8-6.  

The see-saw affair continued in the bottom of the fourth as the Jaguars went ahead 11-7 on three singles and a double.

White had an RBI single in the top of the fifth to cut into the Danville lead at 11-8, but the Jaguars erupted for seven runs in the bottom half.  The lead-off Jaguar reached on an error, had two walks, two singles, and then ended the game with a grand slam for the final scoring.

COUGAR HITTING
Marlee Brown | 2-2, home run, 3 RBI
Shylar Boze | 2-2, 2 RBI
Gracie White | 2-4, RBI
Madi Kessler | 1-1, RBI
Kylie Hyde | 1-3, RBI

COUGAR PITCHING
Broghan Hall | 1.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 1 K
Addison Church | 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R
Marlee Brown | 0.0 IP, 3 H, 7 R

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Sunday, April 29 at 3pm (DH)
vs. Lewis & Clark
Godfrey Ball Park --- Godfrey, IL